Dayton blasts governors who oppose Syrian refugees
Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday that fellow governors who’ve said they’ll oppose Syrian refugees entering their states are engaging in “showmanship.”
More than two dozen Republican governors raised concerns about the security risks posed by refugees following the Paris terrorist attacks.
Dayton, a Democrat, has said he won’t oppose the placement of Syrian refugees in Minnesota, as long as they go through rigorous security screening. During a news conference Tuesday, Dayton said the GOP governors are pretending that they can “sanctify their borders.”
“I want to protect the people of Minnesota every bit as much as any of those governors want to protect the people of their states," he said. "But to stand up there with swagger and say, well, I’m going to prevent the wrong people from entering my state, to me is just ludicrous.”
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Still, Dayton said he is not proposing that Minnesota welcome more Syrian refugees. He said he wants to monitor the situation and see what unfolds.
The Obama administration has said it intends to allow 10,000 refugees from Syria to enter the United States. So far, fewer than 2,000 have been allowed in.
Governors have no say over who can enter their states, and allowing refugees in the country is a federal responsibility, Dayton noted.
The governor has an ally in U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison. The 5th District Democrat told MPR News Tuesday that multiple federal agencies are conducting rigorous screening of Syrian refugees.
"These people are fleeing the terrorists," he said. "They are running from them. And some people might speculate, 'well, some of the terrorists are going to infiltrate them.' And that certainly is a legitimate concern, but that's why we have an 18 month-multiple-layers screening process that's already in place."
Ellison said he thinks ISIS terrorists want to provoke a backlash against Muslims.
Dayton said he did not have a problem with a letter written Monday by Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, that asked Dayton to urge Obama not to permit more Syrian refugees in the country until the U.S. reviews its screening procedures.
Reporter Mukhtar Ibrahim contributed to this story.